News:2021-12-06/Enforcement/takeo-police-chief-orders-crackdown-on-kirivong-marijuana-cultivation-blames-local-authorities-lack-of-will

Cambodia·Takeo·Kirivong·· (Southern Cambodia)

Takeo police chief orders crackdown on Kirivong marijuana cultivation; blames local authorities' "lack of will"

New Takeo provincial police chief Chheang Phannara personally led two-day patrols in Preah Bat Choan Chum commune, finding and destroying 3 cannabis cultivation sites covering 265 square metres. Phannara said cultivation in the commune "has been going on for many generations" and blamed its persistence on local authorities' "lack of will to implement the law." He announced plans to convene meetings with all 12 Kirivong commune authorities early next year. Commune police chief In Vuth provided key economic data: dried marijuana leaves fetch 140,000–160,000 riel ($35–40) per kg, sold to Vietnamese traders who come to the commune to buy directly. Vuth said most people in the commune have historically grown cannabis on their plantations due to the high market price, but after stricter drug laws, cultivation shifted from village plantations to forests next to lakes, far from villages.

Source: https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/officers-told-tackle-marijuana-cultivation